Ad of the Day: Skype Crosses Continents in Evocative Family Spots

When I left Uganda, it was in the middle of the night," says Denis, the newly minted Pennsylvanian in "The Impossible Family Portrait," perhaps the most effective spot in Pereira & O'Dell's series of three new ads for Skype, which is tapping directly into what makes the brand so important to so many people.

It's interesting—advertisers tend to eschew the first-generation immigrant experience because it can be controversial both politically and among people who inevitably feel misrepresented. But Skype is wise enough to recognize and embrace its role as the lifeblood of intercontinental families (full disclosure: including mine), and so the immigrant experience becomes hugely important. Kudos to these guys for having the guts to go with that.

"The Animal Family Portrait" is loads of fun in a totally different way. Here, it's about adorable quadrupeds rather than emotional bipeds. So, it's a more upbeat take ("This is what happens when Americans raise 'roos!"), but the point is essentially the same: Skype allows for a connection deeper than wires and lenses. It's dangerous to tell people that your product has a spiritual dimension, but the agency and the directors, Gregory Mitnick and Nat Livingston Johnson, make the point delicately and well.

The final spot in the trio is "The Growing Up Family Portrait," and it's the least effective, possibly because the stakes seem a lot lower (and possibly because people in Los Angeles are intrinsically unsympathetic. It's true—leave the TMZ and you're suddenly a person again), but it's still cute.

When I left Uganda, it was in the middle of the night," says Denis, the newly minted Pennsylvanian in "The Impossible Family Portrait," perhaps the most effective spot in Pereira & O'Dell's series of three new ads for Skype, which is tapping directly into what makes the brand so important to so many people.

It's interesting—advertisers tend to eschew the first-generation immigrant experience because it can be controversial both politically and among people who inevitably feel misrepresented. But Skype is wise enough to recognize and embrace its role as the lifeblood of intercontinental families (full disclosure: including mine), and so the immigrant experience becomes hugely important. Kudos to these guys for having the guts to go with that.

"The Animal Family Portrait" is loads of fun in a totally different way. Here, it's about adorable quadrupeds rather than emotional bipeds. So, it's a more upbeat take ("This is what happens when Americans raise 'roos!"), but the point is essentially the same: Skype allows for a connection deeper than wires and lenses. It's dangerous to tell people that your product has a spiritual dimension, but the agency and the directors, Gregory Mitnick and Nat Livingston Johnson, make the point delicately and well.

The final spot in the trio is "The Growing Up Family Portrait," and it's the least effective, possibly because the stakes seem a lot lower (and possibly because people in Los Angeles are intrinsically unsympathetic. It's true—leave the TMZ and you're suddenly a person again), but it's still cute.